Toyota keys (why do they lock themselves in the car?)

http://www.bild.me/bild.php?fileH28475keyfob.jpg
It takes one key to open the car, and two of those doohickies to start the
car with the one key that opened the car. I don't understand why.
Anyway, I borrowed a friend's Corolla for the weekend and just now I had to
ask her to let me back into the car because the car locks itself after an
unknown period of time without any user intervention whatsoever.
What's with that?
She says the car locks itself all the time on its own schedule.
Is there a way for her to turn this off so it can be normal?
Is there a way to make it so that just the key starts the car?

Does the car not have a key pad on the door column that you enter a
series of numbers to lock or unlock it if you don't have the key
fob on you? Some of the newer cars won't lock if the key fob is
left inside the vehicle.

My wife has a 2016 Camry and the only thing you need to start the car is the key. The doors don't lock by themselves. RTFM, google it or pester your Toyota service department.
Of course, we never leave the keys in the car because there are too many thieving democrats lurking in the bushes and/or hiding under rocks.

I have a 2016 Forester with ignition key and chauffeur key. I wanted to
whittle down the fob on the chauffeur key to carry in my wallet but was
told it contains a chip in it needed to start the car.
With all the electronics in a car today you may be able to get into the
software and reprogram some items. I did it recently with the oil
change warning light coming on too soon as dealer had set it to sell
twice the oil changes needed.

the key. The doors don't lock by themselves. RTFM, google it or
pester your Toyota service department.

thieving democrats lurking in the bushes and/or hiding under rocks.

Hahahahaaaaa!!! I don't leave keys in my vehicle either as there
are too many thieves around but I don't have a clue as to their
political leanings.
But as to why the original poster left the keys in the car is a
mystery to me and it being a borrowed car on top of that.
I think the lesson learned here is to never lend your car. Especially
to people who are careless with the keys.

They don't lock themselves in the car. The driver who is too dumb
to remove the key from the ignition locks the keys in the car.
My husband's Toyota works just like your friend's Corolla. He has
never locked the keys in the car.
Cindy Hamilton

I got curious so did a quick search. It looks like a couple
people have had this
problem.
<https://community.cartalk.com/t/doors-lock-automatically-while-outside-of-car/48399
or http://alturl.com/wubiq

IMO, a good reason to NOT buy a Toyota unless it can be disabled. I
prefer to decide when my car is locked or not.
The pro thief will get into your car in seconds, locked or not. The
amateur will cause damage trying to get into it. I rarely lock my car.
It was broken into twice and one time I lost a quart of oil laying in
the back seat. The locked cars around me had broken windows, pry marks
and scratches.
Friend of mine had her car locked and alarmed. It was parked right
outside her office window when it was stolen in broad daylight.

That was my theory too when I had a Fiat Spyder convertible and was
living in Boston and LA. I figured they would just slice the top.
So I put an alarm in and left it unlocked. Twice the alarm went off
because someone had opened the door, nothing taken because there
was nothing to take and no damage.

I always lock mine but make sure not to leave anything exposed to make
it attractive to a thief. Some women will get out of the car, put their
purse in the trunk and leave. Thieves were lurking, saw this and
smashed window, opened trunk and stole purse.
I walk in a park and one new years morning got back to the car, guy I
knew walked up to his car right next to mine and saw door lock smashed
in and case with his cell phone stolen.
Locked older cars are easy to steal. Wife lost her 10 year old Mazda 20
years ago while attending a ballet lesson in a mall parking lot with car
locked and directly under a street lamp. It was found 3 days later on
cinder blocks in a bad part of town. The only part not taken was the
old radio. Tires and spare were gone as was everything under the hood.
I think most newer cars will not work without the key as the keys have
chips and while thief may start car, it will not keep running so if
there is nothing to steal then not locking may be OK.

Thanks for finding that. It's the same model and year. I thought the
borrowed car was a Corolla but it's a 2005 Camry LE (not a Corolla).
I still have the borrowed car, and I found the owners manual in the
glovebox which talks about the transponder in the key causing the car to
immobilize and that the doors automatically lock under most conditions (it
was confusing what conditions they were).
Even though it's very confusing what causes the car to automatically lock,
it's clear that it does that.
In this case, there are three "things" that are on the keyring.

http://www.bild.me/bild.php?fileH28475keyfob.jpg
1. The key (which is a non-chip all metal duplicate key) & is mandatory
2. The immobilizer (which is mandatory & must be "near" to start the car)
3. The automatic unlock/lock doohickey (this is optional)
When I leave the car, the doors automatically lock.
Apparently that's how Toyota has it set up.
I don't know if that setting can be changed to NOT lock the car, but what
it means, in the end, is that you can never just leave the keys in the car
when you park it overnight - which is what I normally do with all my own
cars and everyone in my family does the same.
Out here, we don't lock our cars and we leave the keys in the tray
overnight, but we also live in a very safe area and we don't do that when
we go shopping and park at the malls.

There is absolutely no doubt the car locks itself for a few reasons.
One is that my friend says it does it all the time but that's when her
three doohickies are in her purse or in her husband's pant's pocket.
The second is that I leave my keys in the car when the car is parked in my
driveway, and even though this is a borrowed car, I habitually leave my
keys and glasses in the car - which is what I did.
So there is no way that the keys were "jumbled" or "pushed" or anything
since we got out of the car and just left it there without locking it.
Given that this has happened to the three people who used this car
separately and at various times and very consistently, you can rest assured
that the car is locking itself.
The question is why and how.

And a "feature" can be too clever by half, oftentimes...there are many
valid reasons for not wanting to have to remove the stinkin' keys from
the car immediately that it's more of a nuisance than a help.
As Ed says, if a real thief is after it, it'll be gone in an eyeblink,
lock or no lock; about the only effective technique is one that actually
disables the car totally.
Looking for instances, it appears there is a design that if unlock with
the key fob but don't open door within 30/60 sec, the vehicle will
automagically relock.
I couldn't find a factory instance that conclusively indicated to me it
_should_ lock itself with the key in the ignition when just exiting the
vehicle, but there were many complaints on user forums of such behavior.
Many of those seemed to end up as being various electrical faults in the
locking electrical systems...

And leaving the car open to be stolen very easily. There have been
civil cases where someone got killed or seriously hurt by a car
that was stolen while the owner carelessly left it running while
at the convenience store. PRobably have been some where the keys were
left in it while it's in the driveway too. How liable that makes
you for potential damages, IDK. But leaving keys in the car,
when it's in the driveway isn't a good idea.

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